Caerphilly town’s public toilets on Station Terrace, which closed last month, are to be reopened by the Caerphilly Taxi Drivers’ Association.

Work on reopening the toilets began on Thursday, April 25 and it is hoped that they will be back in use by the end of this month.

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However, the association is aiming to raise £5,000 so it can lower the planned usage charges from 50p to 20p.

The association met with the Caerphilly County Borough Council to discuss taking over the maintenance of the toilets, which the council agreed to.

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Association secretary David Miller said: “It’s essential for taxi drivers and people coming off buses and trains to have access to public toilets.

“Being a tourist town, these toilets need to be open. So many people need to use these facilities.

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“Fair play to the council for letting us take them over.”

Chris Bundy, who is chair of the association, said: “It cost £17,000 to run the toilets last year. Water was running 24/7 and the lights were kept on.

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“Why keep the lights and water on when no one is in there? We’re putting sensors in the toilets to reduce the costs.”

Mr Bundy added: “This will be a guinea pig. As long as it funds itself we can keep running it.

“If we can hit the £5,000 target, we’ll be able to drop the charges from 50p to 20p.

“We’re a not-for-profit organisation so we’re not charging to line our own pockets.”

George Edwards, who is the association’s vice-chair and treasurer, said: “At the moment, we’re doing electric and water works. Once that’s done, we’ll be doing work to fit the coin mechanisms, which will cost £5,000.

“We think a 20p charge is more sensible than 50p.

“A lot of hard work is going in. There’s no structural changes but the lighting is being repaired, a timer is being fitted to the water systems and everything will be working as normal.

“We’re hoping to have it all sorted by the end of May, or even before that if possible.”